SEO Considerations Often Missed When Redesigning a Website

There are many reasons to redesign your website, from improving its usability to undergoing a major rebrand. Unfortunately, many people make the mistake of ignoring the SEO technical factors that involve redesigning a website and their business suffers as a result.

We understand that redesigning a website is a major investment and following these tips or enlisting the help of an SEO technical specialist will improve your ROi in the long-run.

Redesigning a website is a delicate process. For example, failing to place proper 301 redirects in place for old URLs could damage your immediate link equity and creating a responsive site is more critical than ever.

Of course, no business has ever scaled by being too scared of a little risk. Follow these tips to discover strategies and tools that will help you successfully migrate or update an existing website.

Pre-Design

Before designing a new website, decide what aspects of the old site you are looking to change. No matter your objective, every webpage plays an important part in your information architecture and organic ranking.

Conduct an audit of your existing website to determine which web pages retain high domain authority, gather traffic, nurture leads and conform to your keyword focus. Screaming Frog is one of the best tools on the market for analyzing on-site elements and your internal linking structure.

Aside from evaluating the KPI’s each webpage presents, it’s important to monitor many of the on-site factors which affect indexation and user experience. At LSEO, we typically address these on-site concerns when deciding which webpages should be preserved, trashed or fixed for the relaunch:

Are there any missing, duplicate or improper meta tag/ header elements?

Does my website have existing 301 redirects I will need to direct to the new URL?

Are there any broken links present in my internal link structure?

Is canonicalisation present?

Does any duplicate content exist?

Are my webpages optimized for speed?

Are images properly compressed / resized?

Do my images contain alt-text for indexation?

This checklist will be used to audit your test site before relaunch. After checking for these errors, you should consider manually analyzing your XML sitemap to discover which web pages are being prevented from indexation by a robots.txt file. Finally, analyze your URL structure for duplicate content, as well as keyword optimization.

If your website is moving to a new domain or you’re moving your content to new URLs, your website may suffer short term organic consequences:

Loss in organic traffic

Loss in organic rankings

Loss in organic sales/conversions

Loss in site wide indexation rates

*Understand these problems can be long-term, but can possibly mitigated by indexing your websites as fast as possible by submitting an updated XML sitemap directly to Google through Google Search Console.

Moving to a New Domain?

If you’re moving to a new domain your website can suffer extended organic problems from the move. Google holds domain age as an important ranking factor for new domains.

Even with a proper 301 redirect strategy from an authoritative site in place, your website’s return to high organic rank could take well over six months to unfold.

It’s important to optimize your new URL structure with the proper keywords. Users exhibit domain bias or the propensity to click on URLs with their exact match keyword in the anchor text.

Link Audit

Preserving your website’s link equity through a site migration is paramount to retaining a high organic rank.

Perform an inbound link audit to determine which webpages should be reclaimed during the migration or redesign process. Create an excel sheet to sort your most important webpages by page authority and link relevance.

Remember, direct links pass more equity than redirect links, so mitigating an existing 301 redirect to new URLs diminishes the loss in authority experienced from a site migration. They also present a greater user experience.

If you purchase a URI or domain from another webmaster, analyze their link profile to determine how their authority will impact your website’s authority.

Consider utilizing dynamic links for your new website. While most webmaster’s prefer static links, dynamic links are sometimes ideal for indexation and crawling.

Finally, before beginning the design and launch of your website, it’s quintessential that you password protect your website during the developmental stage. Also, insert nofollow links or a robots.txt file on your webpages to prevent search engines from indexing your website before it’s ready for launch.

Redesign

301 Redirects

Next, we begin redesigning your website. After optimizing your HTML structure or successfully purchasing and setting up your new domain, we must now transfer all of your old content over to the new website.

To accomplish this critical task, many webmasters simply copy and paste old content onto their new test website. In order to direct users to your new URL and retain all of the existing kpi’s from your existing content, we place 301 redirects on those old web pages and point them to your new content pages.

Ideally, maintaining the same URL structure will save you time and money and is generally safer. But if you’re migrating to a new domain then you should redirect each web page one-by-one to protect your user experience and prevent broken links.

Use Google’s web toolkit to ensure that all internal links are properly redirected. While you may not want to transfer all old content over, it’s ideal to simply copy and then optimize these web pages so you don’t lose any link equity by disavowing a webpage that held valuable link juice.

Use Open Site Explorer or Majestic SEO Tools to perform an external link analysis to analyze your existing link portfolio. Prioritize web pages that hold the most authoritative, relevant links and be sure to properly migrate them to a new URL.

Consider that each of your old webpages may have played an important part in indexation and keyword rank. It’s ideal to transfer every single web page over for the time being.

*It will be difficult to determine the effect of removing a content web page from your information architecture until you begin to retain your organic KPIs.

In redesigning your URL structure, place keyword specific anchor text in your internal links to help index and rank your new webpages for user search terms.

Even if you don’t create a new webpage for existing content, place a 301 redirect to a webpage that is relevant to the topic itself. This will ensure you maintain a good user experience.

You’ll want to maintain a 301 redirect structure of web page a to b. Point any existing 301 redirects, from a previous file, to the new website from the original URL source.

Consider creating rules that leverage wildcards and regular expressions, as opposed migrating individual URLs using the configuration file .htaccess. You also want to make sure that your 301 redirects do not accidentally transfer over into 302 redirects.

404 Errors

So what happens if you delete an old webpage? Does the URL disappear into thin air? On the contrary, this action creates what is known as a 404 error webpage.

Unfortunately, 404 errors are an inevitable result of any website redesign. These errors may occur from broken links or even a search bar search.

Create a custom 404 error page that features links to your homepage and other valuable internal webpages. At a previous TechCrunch, Neil Patel discussed how he used 404 error pages to create auto-generated internal links for up to 50 webpages, which vastly increased his website’s indexation rate.

Conduct an inbound link analysis to discover any broken links on your website and customize your 404 error page with a creative and unique message.

A custom 404 error web page can be very valuable to your SEO campaign:

Increases dwell time

Reduces bounce rates and pogo sticking

Increases indexation rate

Increases sales/conversions long-term

Increase your website’s UX

Update the New Sitemap

It’s important to update your sitemap with your new URLs to increase your website’s indexation rate. An XML sitemap will also provide a valued user experience.

You’ll want to phase out old URLs over time after evaluating how they fit into your information architecture. Be sure to to submit your sitemap through the Google Search Console and to place it in your robots.txt file.

Other Considerations

The consequences probably won’t be this grave, but why risk it?

Keep all content, meta tags, headers, and images intact during the transition process so your new website can be easily indexed and ranked. Optimize your schema markup for each webpage and maintain a proper, keyword optimized URL structure.

Matt Cutts provides us with a good tip when migrating to a new domain. Don’t go all in at once and consider experimenting with small changes using a subdomain or subfolder and analyzing the effects.

If you’re integrating a CMS into your website, it’s important to do your research first. Conduct an audit on websites that actively use the CMS and talk to customers directly to see how their CMS affected their website’s redesign and organic kpi’s.

Remember, one line of code, whether it be the introduction of a CMS or an update to JavaScript, could have potentially devastating SEO consequences.

Website Audit

So you’ve successfully migrated all of your webpages over to the new site and even installed your code correctly: what’s next?

The final step is to audit the new website to check for cracks. Here I’ll copy over the previously mentioned website audit and add in a few other concerns your website should monitor:

Are there any missing, duplicate or improper meta tag/ header elements?

Does my website have existing 301 redirects I will need to direct to the new URL?

Did I remove my noindex, nofollow, or robots.txt files from the correct URLs?

Are my sidebars, drop down menus, and landing pages crawlable?

What pages are being indexed by Google and how often?

What is my website speed?

Raven Tools and Screaming Frog will help you audit your website for broken links and many of the on-site elements that affect your organic kpi’s. Use Google’s Speed Test to analyze the the speed and performance of your redesigned website.

Build out your top content pages and assess which content was previously important to your information architecture as well as what their traffic pre-launch was and how it’s affected your post-launch traffic by being absent from your website.

I recommend a soft-launch to see if your website’s overall structure is held in place. If successful, the next step is ultimately building out content to supplement your keyword research and scale your business further.

Brian Reese– Paid Media Associate

Brian has a business degree in Marketing & Management from Penn State University. His digital marketing career began with an internship at LSEO in his senior year, where he learned the ropes of SEO and Paid Media. After graduation, Brian was brought onto the LSEO team to further the growth of the Paid Media Department. Brian has a strong background in leadership and team growth from his over 5 years of head coaching a high school volleyball team.

Hector E. De Los Santos Maria – SEO Associate

Hector is originally from the Dominican Republic. He studied Graphic Design at a private university called APEC, before relocating to Pittsburgh to study Game Art & Design at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After his time in Pittsburgh, Hector moved to NEPA and graduated from Luzerne County Community College in 2011 with a degree in Commercial Art and a concentration in Painting and Illustration.

Hector has taught himself HTML and CSS through several online sources, and in the past few year has become interested in digital marketing, specifically e-commerce and SEO.

Hector is interested technology and has a background in network administration and computer repair. He is also proficient in Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Pro Tools. In his spare time, Hector enjoys drawing and playing guitar.

Mark Dymond – Head of PPC

Mark Dymond has a degree in Business Marketing / Management from Pennsylvania State University and graduated top in his class. Originally a part of the internship program, Mark was brought on board to expand the Paid Media department. He’s extremely active in finding the best information and tactics on PPC campaigns and has extensive experience with online marketing channels like Facebook, Google, Bing, etc. Throughout his career, Mark has done digital marketing work for several entities, such as The Pennsylvania State University.

Pat Mineo – Head of Design & Development

Pat is LSEO’s Head of Web Design. After graduating from Marywood University in 2015 with a Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design, Pat begin working with LSEO to integrate design into the digital marketing space by creating effective user experiences that drive results for businesses of all sizes.

Passionate about the latest design trends, Pat has worked with businesses from all over the country, in both digital and print mediums. How users and customers interact with a brand and their products is truly what drives Pat's enthusiasm for creativity.

Outside of LSEO, Pat works closely with a number of area non-profits, elevating their fundraising efforts through effective branding and digital experiences. Pat has taken Silver in the 2015 American Advertising Awards in 2015, and when he's not creating, he's enjoying his family and friends, traveling, and following his favorite sports teams closely.

Kyle Kozie – Head of SEO

Kyle has obtained a Business degree with a focus in Marketing and Management from Penn State University. While interning during his time at Penn State, Kyle gained a passion for SEO and Digital Marketing and has been in the industry ever since. His primary focus has been on managing both large and small clients in the e-commerce space, which has given him the knowledge and experience to become an organic search expert. Kyle has a drive to develop strong client relationships and deliver top notch results. He does this by staying on top of industry trends and holding many digital marketing certifications. Kyle also comes with a strong technical SEO background that he can help clients deploy.

In his free time, Kyle enjoys working out with a focus on Powerlifting and Crossfit, where he competes locally and at the regional level. When he is not doing SEO or in the gym, he is doing his favorite thing in the world, playing with his Australian Shepherd, Blake.

Jade Matusick – Content Marketing Specialist

Jade graduated from Susquehanna University with a B.A. in Creative Writing. While in college, Jade was involved in several small press publications reviewing literature, art, and photography submissions. While she has a lifelong love of writing and reading fiction, she is always looking for opportunities to expand her writing skills and try different genres. Never without a book, Jade aspires to one day publish a novel of her own one day.

Jade is a self-proclaimed expert on the royal family and romantic comedies. She also checks her horoscope daily in hopes that it will give her some guidance.

Darcy Huff – SEO Account Strategist

Darcy joins the LSEO team as an SEO Account Strategist. With the original intent of pursuing a career in graphic design, she developed a passion for online marketing while taking on her first SEO role at Web.com in 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Design & Media Art with a minor in Marketing from Wilkes University.

When she’s not at work, Darcy can be found at the cinema or theater, discovering NEPA’s restaurants and breweries, or taking a day trip to New York City. She also spends her time doing freelance design, birdwatching, and relaxing with her dog, Mandy.

Contact Us Today
to Get Started

Reach out and we’ll guide you in how our services can grow your business!

Name *

First

Last

Company

Phone *

Email *

Comment or Message *

Captcha *

=

Name

Jack Trapani – Paid Media Specialist

Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Media Management from Marywood University. His career in marketing began with internships at local publications and advertising agencies.

His previous roles include working at a private community as the Direct of Marketing and Media as well as various advertising agencies as a Pay-Per-Click Account Manager. He joins the LSEO team as a Paid Media Specialist.

In his free time, he volunteers with several non-profits which benefits various causes such as the local Boys and Girls Club. He also completes service projects throughout the year.

Teara Keller – Head of Web Development

Teara hails from the Maryland side of the D.C. Metro Area. So yes, she hold strong feelings about seafood and Old Bay Seasoning. She holds a BS in Web Development and Design from Southern New Hampshire University, and will begin working towards her MS in Digital Marketing this coming fall. She brings a unique approach to web development and ux design, having always been fascinated with the psychology that goes into how users interact with websites, while also keeping the technical side of SEO in mind as she works with clients to improve their websites to further optimize their web presence. She is also a member of three national collegiate honors societies, Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Mu Gamma, and The National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

When she isn’t nerding out over UX trends and new JS libraries, she’s Co-Chair of the POC Committee for Queer NEPA, a speaker at their Pride Series in June, and devoted wife and mother. She loves finding new places to eat, traveling, and quiet weekends spent vegging at home on the couch watching documentaries on Netflix. She also has an extensive collection of Funko Pops and Meryl Streep movies that she is quite proud of.

John Meholic – SEO Manager & SEO Expert

John holds a degree in English Education and Philosophy from the College of Arts and Sciences at Misericordia University. Originally graduating with the dream of one day becoming a professor and writer, he fell deeply in love with the digital marketing world in 2014, working for companies such as Web.com, Net Driven, and Pepperjam.

With a diverse background in search engine optimization, paid search, affiliate marketing, as well as teaching, John has the knowledge, dedication, and discipline to craft and implement technical and creative marketing strategies for online businesses.
When John isn’t staying up-to-date on the latest SEO news and continuing to earn industry certifications, he likes to spend his time exploring various large cities across the US, going to shows, watching movies with friends and family, and drinking coffee. Although John dedicates a large portion of his time to developing his technical SEO skills, he can’t seem to shake his childhood obsession with becoming a living, breathing encyclopedia of underground and alternative music.

Brianna Redding – Content Marketing Specialist & Intern Coordinator

Brianna is a NEPA native who relocated to Philadelphia after studying Journalism at Luzerne County Community College. While living in Philly, she did freelance work for several online music publications, which gave her the opportunity to see some of her favorite bands perform live.

Brianna moved back to NEPA in 2017 and now holds a position at LSEO as a Content Marketing Specialist and Intern Coordinator. Brianna enjoys writing and feels that her love of reading has helped improve her writing over the years. Brianna is also passionate about the internship program at LSEO and loves meeting the talented students that walk through the doors each semester.

In her free time, Brianna can be found thrift shopping, taking photos of her friends on her film camera (her prized possession), and cooking delicious plant-based meals. She’s also a big sister to two dogs, Bernie and Buster, whom she loves dearly.

Jessica Spear – Head of Client Strategy

From complex math to managing budgets, Jessica is a project management expert with experience handling numerous brands at one time and an ability to deliver quality results. Whether she’s launching a website, setting up analytics or simply keeping things on track, Jessica takes pride in getting things done ahead of schedule, a quality that has helped her throughout her 10+ years in digital marketing. Jessica has leveraged her skills when helping found East Coast Paws, which now has over 5,000 members.

In her free time, Jessica likes to stay up-to-date on industry news, cooking, watching documentaries, and recently discovered a skill for refinishing furniture. Jessica was also on the swim team during her time at Drexel University, where she studied engineering.

Eric Adamczyk – SEO Specialist

Eric Adamczyk graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Marketing & Management from Penn State. During his four years at Penn State, Eric was a member of the school’s Blue & White Society, networking with alumni and participating in community events.

Before gaining full-time status at LSEO, Eric spent a semester interning with the company and worked with the SEO team to expand his knowledge of digital marketing. Eric likes to keep himself up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and further his knowledge of what’s changing in the industry.

In his free time, Eric is an avid sports fan who enjoys watching just about any game, including baseball, football, hockey and basketball. When he’s not watching his favorite teams play, he can be found on a golf course or coaching his youth travel basketball team.

Lindsey Matylewicz – PPC Specialist

Lindsey holds an MA in communication arts from Marywood University, focusing in media production and management. She’s current on the latest best practices and trends for pay-per-click advertising and has taken on a role at LSEO as a paid media associate. In her spare time she enjoys reading and writing short stories. She nerds out about comedy and participates in theater, improv, and sketch groups in the area. She also loves hiking, coffee, and her lovely pup, Gus.

Jeanne Laktash – Content Marketing Specialist

Jeanne Laktash is a professional wordsmith and well-known Type-A personality (or, as she’s known around the office, Content Marketing Specialist). Jeanne has enjoyed a passion for writing since she was a child, often saying she wanted to be a variety of things when she grew up, always coming back to writing. This led her to pursue the study of communications, earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Communication Arts from Marywood University.

Jeanne has worked in marketing since 2008, eventually crossing into the digital marketing field in 2014. Throughout her career, she has worked for prominent NEPA organizations, including the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, Keystone Automotive, and Net Driven, crafting dynamic, engaging content to drive leads. Jeanne stays up to date on the latest digital marketing and content trends by reading industry blogs and immersing herself in information.

When she’s not crafting content for LSEO’s many clients, she enjoys spending time with her husband Nick and daughter Kateri, listening to music, cooking interesting meals, sampling different craft beer, snuggling her German Shepherd Samson (who thinks he’s a lap dog) and rooting for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, for whom she has been a season ticket holder since 2007.

Jeff Miro – SEM Specialist

Jeff has a degree in communications from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. After starting out at the The Times Leader as a sports writer, Jeff began his career in the online marketing industry in 2007, working for Pepperjam. He has experience in paid search marketing and content writing, but his specialty for the past 11 years has been in search engine optimization. He is enthusiastic about delivering tangible results, and increased conversions and traffic for clients.

Jeff likes to stay current on SEO trends and Internet marketing news, and in his spare time loves to work out and read about nutrition, fitness, and health-related topics. He also likes listening to music, going to shows, hanging out with friends, and watching Seinfeld and The Office.

James Neff – Head of Content

James has worked in the digital marketing industry for a few years now, publishing thousands of articles along the way. Being a well rounded writer provides an excellent advantage to the content marketing field. James is a lifetime member of the forensics fraternity Pi Kappa Delta and has been an active freelance writer for SEM firms and news organization since college. James graduated with a Communications BA from Keystone College, specializing in Journalism.

Unlike most content marketers, James can assist in everything from a technical audit to keyword research. James loves his work and he has a passion for writing and reading. On his off-days, James enjoys watching sports and going to concerts.

Chad Mummert – Director of Business Development

Chad has over 15 years experience in Sales, Marketing, and Advertising with degrees in Audio Engineering and Advertising. Chad’s main focus and passion for 8+ years has been Branding and Online Marketing. His broad range of capabilities brings diversity to our team with skill-sets in Audio Production, Video Production, Graphic Design, SEO, PPC and Social Media. Chad has consulted hundreds of businesses in nearly every market vertical and is focused on a positive customer impact for his clients.

When Chad isn’t obsessing over new market trends he is most likely writing and recording music. A Multi-Instrumentalist since the age of 6 years old, he attributes his creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to his life long dedication of exploring musical boundaries. He also loves skiing, mountain biking, hiking, riding his ATV and pretty much anything else the mountains of Pennsylvania has to offer.

Kristopher Jones – Founder/CEO

Kris is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, best-selling author, accomplished public speaker and dedicated philanthropist. In 1999, Kris founded Pepperjam, a full-service internet marketing agency and affiliate network which was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America three times before being sold to eBay Enterprise in 2009.

After the sale of Pepperjam, Kris founded KBJ Capital, an early stage technology angel investment fund which has raised over $35 million of funding and has a robust portfolio of 15 companies including French Girls App, LSEO.com, Yumm.com, LavCup, APPEK Mobile Apps, VigLink, Pathmapp, Highlighter.com, ReferLocal.com and more. Author of the best-selling book “Search-Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint to Effective Internet Marketing”, Kris’ articles regularly appear in premium publications like Forbes, Inc. and Fast Company.

He is also a frequent keynote speaker at prestigious conferences and universities worldwide in addition to sitting on the boards of several non-profit and educational organizations. Learn more about Kris at www.krisjones.com

Chris Nash – President

Chris Nash is an Internet and SEO marketing expert, e-commerce veteran, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of digital, web, and sales experience. He co-founded the second largest retail and e-commerce dancewear company, AllAboutDance.com, in 1999, acquired a major competitor in 2008, and sold the business in 2010 to the world’s largest online discount dance wear retailer.

Chris is currently utilizing his proven experience in digital marketing, SEO, and e-commerce across a variety of internet based companies. His experience has also drawn him toward professional photography where he has often focused on dance, movement and the performing arts. As a graduate of Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, Chris brings an international perspective to his work having literally worked and traveled around the world through the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship on a global technology research project.

Chris has co-founded or invested in a number of start-ups and other businesses including MaxxBench.com – an innovative fitness equipment company that is changing the way we work out, and AutomateAds.com – a software driven company that automates, optimizes, and unifies cross-channel digital advertising.

Chris joins LSEO.com as President and is excited to bring his decades of experience to one of the fastest growing SEO and digital marketing agencies on the planet. It’s a digital match made in heaven.

Hector De Los Santos – SEO Specialist

Kris is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, best-selling author, accomplished public speaker and dedicated philanthropist. In 1999, Kris founded Pepperjam, a full-service internet marketing agency and affiliate network which was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America three times before being sold to eBay Enterprise in 2009.

After the sale of Pepperjam, Kris founded KBJ Capital, an early stage technology angel investment fund which has raised over $35 million of funding and has a robust portfolio of 15 companies including French Girls App, LSEO.com, Yumm.com, LavCup, APPEK Mobile Apps, VigLink, Pathmapp, Highlighter.com, ReferLocal.com and more. Author of the best-selling book “Search-Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint to Effective Internet Marketing”, Kris’ articles regularly appear in premium publications like Forbes, Inc. and Fast Company.

He is also a frequent keynote speaker at prestigious conferences and universities worldwide in addition to sitting on the boards of several non-profit and educational organizations. Learn more about Kris at www.krisjones.com/